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[This Document is the Property of Her Britannic Majesty's Government.]
Printed for the use of the Colonial Office. October 22, 1898.
SECRET.
No. 197 R.
GOLD COAST.
GOLD COAST.
C.O.
No. 374. Secret.
Defence Scheme Revised to December, 1897.
Remarks by the Colonial Defence Committee.
Covering Despatch of Acting Governor.
IN paragraphs 6 and 9 of his covering despatch the Acting Governor refers to Inclosure 3, a Report by Lieutenant Foulkes, R.E., on the defence of the cable huts at Accra from a direct attack by sea, and endorses the opinion that on the whole the con- struction of earthworks is undesirable. The grounds for this opinion are apparently that no secrecy could be maintained as to the existence of the earthworks, if constructed, and that troops extended along the cliffs for the defence of the huts would present a difficult target to the enemy. From the plan of Accra, furnished with the Scheme, it would appear, however, that the cable huts face a part of the beach where there is a break in the cliffs, and, although on a tactical question, it is difficult to set aside the opinion of officers who have studied the actual ground, yet, in the present case, it still seems doubtful to the Colonial Defence Committee whether an earthwork might not greatly assist the defence in repulsing the direct attack of a superior force. It would not, of course, be desirable to occupy the work until the fire of the hostile cruiser had been masked by her boats' crews.
The statement made by Lieutenant Foulkes that a ship is more likely to cut the cables in the vicinity of Accra than to attack their shore ends, has undoubtedly some force. It cannot, however, be advanced as an argument against making some small provision against the less likely mode of attack.
2. In paragraph 7 of his covering despatch the Acting Governor promises to give attention to the question of forming a reserve of Hausas by placing time-expired men. as military settlers on Government land. He has long been of opinion that this should be possible, and is supported by the Local Defence Committee (pages 2 and 3, (ii)) who consider that such a reserve could be organized and maintained at no great expense, the men being drawn from a number of discharged Hausas who reside permanently in the Colony, who could be called in for drill and instructional purposes for one month in each year without serious injury to their ordinary occupations. The Local Com- mittce estimates that at Accra probably 300 men could be obtained; between Cape Coast and Elmina, some 300 more; and at Kwitta, from 100 to 200.
The Colonial Defence Committee attach great importance to this proposal, and they recommend that the Governor should be at once instructed to draw out a scheme in full detail for giving effect to it.
They also recommend that similar instructions should be sent to the Governors of Sierra Leone and Lagos, and that the matter should also be considered in connection with the Niger Territories.
3. The Acting Governor in paragraph 8 of his despatch does not altogether agree with the estimate framed by the Local Defence Committee of the value of the Volunteers as an item in the defensive forces of the Colony. The Local Defence Committee (p. 3, (iii)), are "at present unable to take them into consideration in drawing up a scheme for the defence of the Colony, and propose in the future that
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